


The little Clownfish (never to be finished)

by namppa



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2016-07-15
Packaged: 2018-05-08 04:17:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5483012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/namppa/pseuds/namppa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It is the in which a young merman Gamzee gets himself in trouble and finds help in a young human, Tavros. This weird encounter is the beginning of even a weirder friendship between two species. </p><p>I'm going to post the rest of the chapters as I read them again and check for errors and... really off putting writing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Basically this is was inspired by The little Mermaid and my friend who wondered how a mermaid would react to swinging on a swing. Thus I ended up thinking about some pretty embarrassing stuff and then this monstrosity was born. (juu elikkä kiitos vaan tanja)
> 
> I'm only going to post the first chapter for now and see if anyone's interested in this. I have two other chapters ready and I'm going to continue writing this, whether someone likes this or not. So far the word count is somewhere at 15k and I really should continue writing it haha. 
> 
> So this is a story of a clownfish merman Gamzee who meets a human named Tavros. I also have other ships planned for this such as pale as stars gamkar and possibly even red as blood davekat who knows. 
> 
> PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK AND IF MY GRAMMAR IS DOING SOMETHING HORRIBLE, I AIN'T THAT GOOD IN ENGLISH YET. THANKS FOR THE READ I HOPE IT WAS A GOOD READ.

It had pretty much been a regular and… maybe even an uneventful day for Tavros Nitram. He was walking along the shore of his childhood’s favorite beach and was mostly just admiring the view. It felt SO good to be back to his old hometown. He and his family had moved when he had been fourteen but two years later they decided to move back and he was finally reuniting with his favorite places in the world. The Nitrams had moved into a house right next to the beach he was walking on, since their older house had been demolished. Tavros has now been in town for two weeks, but it wasn't until this evening that he was able to squeeze in enough time to just look around and meet up with his old friends. Tavros had continued his studies in the town’s old high school, it was easy to start there again since it was the beginning of another semester. Today the teenager had spent a long evening all by himself. It felt really great.

 

His hands were tucked inside his vest hoodie’s pockets and sand was slipping through his sandals as he kept kicking it around. The sun was setting and a mild breeze was running through his brown fluffy mohawk. It was pretty warm considering it was august. He turned to face the setting sun and sniffed. Dang, the sea air smelled great. Tavros had missed literally EVERYTHING this town has. In the new city, nothing had felt quite right to any of his family’s members but they had still decided to give it a try. But they had to return. Things were finally back on track. Tavros picked a few rocks from the sand and threw them in the ocean and thought about whatever crossed his mind. The random thoughts and memories made him smile a little. He really had missed his friends.

 

Until the thoughts were stopped by odd sounds coming from his right. Was that…. someone speaking? He hadn’t heard anyone coming to the beach? Or had he been just so lost in his thoughts?

 

By his right was a big pile of huge rocks that he remembered creating something like a cave in between them. When he was little he used to sit on them and watch tiny fish who liked to play hide and seek in there. Now it sounded like there was someone in there, Tavros was sure of that. He slowly walked next to the rocks so he could hear who or what was in there. The noises stopped sounding like talk and turned into something more inhuman. Maybe it was a big weird fish or a seal or something like that. He’s seen a lot of things in his life, but he’s never seen a seal before. It would be pretty cool to make friends with one. His hopes for seeing a seal however, were crushed once he got close enough to see a giant tail splashing against the water that definitely belonged to a fish. Ooh neat, it looked like it was a clownfish-! But- Clownfish are very tiny… aren’t they? If it isn’t a clownfish then what… is….. Tavros peered over the big rock and practically laid on it so he could see clearly. Yep. It definitely wasn’t a fish.

 

The creature beneath him did have a clownfish like tail, orange with large white stripes and a little black here and there. But instead of seeing a fish head Tavros saw a soft, scratched belly, two thick hands with golden bracelets on both of them and on one of it's fingers was a silver ring with a purple gem on it.  Lifting his eyes from it's arms, he noticed that the creature was bare chested and he could spot gills on top of it's ribs. It wore a colorful necklace and then he finally decided to take a look at it's face. His eyes locked with very scared ones. True horror was shining from those bright purple ones. Most of it's face was covered by blond, short, curly and wet hair (wet with both blood and water) The face itself was very round and covered in blood; two fresh scars were marking his face. The other just barely hit his right eye and the other was going straight over the bridge of his round nose. Tavros thought that his face was maybe a little too graceful for such ugly scars. But what concerned him most, was the big fish net that the other was tangled in.

 

Fuck.

 

It was another mermaid who had gotten stuck in those nasty things.

 

Tavros was a little unsure about what he should do next. Sure this wasn't his first time seeing a mermaid in trouble (or in this case, a merman) but.... The last time this had happened, Tavros had only been five years old. And the mermaid in need had also been his age. (this was bringing back old memories of her. He wondered if she was doing okay) But this merman, he guessed, is a lot older than she! Technically they could be the same age again, the other definitely didn't have a beard or wrinkles or anything like that. He seemed young. Although Tavros wasn't even sure if merfolk could even grow a beard? He guessed they could but that's not the point right now! The point is to help the other to feel a little less frightened. Because he certainly looked like he could die from stress at any given moment!

      

Tavros slid himself down from the rock and stepped slowly into the water so he wouldn't scare the poor guy even more. Luckily he was wearing his shorts today. (although he probably shouldn't go in to the water with these _legs)_  He carefully walked around the rock so he could fully see the merman. This made the merman show his sharp teeth to the other and back away as much as he could in that little water he had. Surprised, Tavros raised his hands in the air as a defense. He wanted to show him that he meant no harm. They both kept looking at each other in the eyes while huffing. Tavros knew that he couldn't handle this the same way like he had ten years ago. He can't just shush and say "no no no, I don't want to hurt you," He doubts that strategy. But... It's the only idea he has in his mind so.... He really hopes he can understand English. She understood it, so why not him too?

 

"Uhm okay, uh. Please calm down, and like... I am not going to, hurt you. And... Could you please not bite off my hand, maybe?" he had started his sentence in a boost of confidence, but the merman had some really scary teeth! Aradia did NOT have such things!

 

The merman squinted his eyes just a little bit and closed his mouth. He still looked very doubtful. Looking at those squinted pair of eyes, Tavros noticed that he had probably been crying. They looked a little puffy and red. But apparently the clown had understood Tavros because he was now visibly more relaxed. Seeing how he reacted, Tavros let out a relieved sigh. Smiling a little he continued.

 

"I really want to help you. If you let me, that is. I mean, you've gotten yourself into a, quite a mess", gesturing at the net all around him. The merman was looking at Tavros very confused. Then he looked at the net and then back at Tavros. He ended up shrugging carefully, being too scared to actually make a sound. Well, at least he understands.

Tavros picked up a very sharp rock to cut the net and that made the merman nervous again. But once he was convinced that no, this human wasn't going to STAB him to death with a rock like everyone had told him, he relaxed again a little. Tavros was trying to make his way through the net, slowly freeing his orange tail and arms.

 

"So um... What's your name?" Tavros asked him. Cutting the ropes might take awhile so why not make this a little less awkward. Or this is going to go exactly the other way around and get even more awkward. But he'd give it a shot.

     

After a short silence, the merman finally answered in his unused voice.

 

"Gamzee. This motherfucker's Gamzee", and ended his answer in a cough.

 

"Oh, that's a nice name, I guess. I'm Tavros. Are you uh... From around... Here?" He wasn't sure if he could even ask that. Around here? Ugh, he hated his reply.

 

"I suppose. My place ain't that much far", he shrugged and tried to move his almost freed tail. It was starting to fall asleep. Which was annoying as shit.

 

"O-oh. It would be great to see that. But I can't breathe underwater or, anything like that, hehe..." with that nervous laugh he got back to cutting the net. He worked in silence after that. Things were pretty awkward during it; both of them were just looking at Tavros’ work and kind of hoping that they weren’t there. Tavros thought that it had been a lot more interesting and exciting when he had been five. He and Aradia had chatted about various things such as  _what does it feel to swim all the time?_ or _why do you have those “toes”?_ and _do you have a fish friend like in that movie “The little Mermaid”?_  All of those were just silly questions asked by little children (Although she did have a puffer fish who she liked to play with. Kinda like the equivalent of a dog) and right now it was hard to create any kind of small talk. Things were a lot more awkward and generally just more horrible. First of all, Aradia hadn’t been bleeding back then, her tail was just in that mess. Second of all, neither of them had been scared, they had had so much fun together! They had even met again every day for a couple of years! God, why did everything had to be so much more complicated once you grow older.

 

Gamzee wasn't feeling any better. All his life, he had been told not to get too close to the shore or to any of the humans. All his life he had been warned about all the bullshit that humans do and would do to you if you interact with them. Even just a little while ago Karkat had told you NOT to go too far away from the city to "get your dumb ass in a fucking mess again", But what could he expect. He had managed to get his lazy ass in trouble. Again. But this time he was in some deep shit. One of the deepest he's ever been. He couldn't even compare this to anything. He had been close to the surface, some humans had mistaken him for a seal or something and thought "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if we could catch one???"  Then they had thrown the fish net at him, it had gotten stuck on his tail, he had crashed to the bottom rocks and hurt himself. Then he had swam away as quickly as possible, which wasn't very quickly, he had ended up by this very shore he was sitting on right now and tried to free himself. And that's when.. Tav...ros? Had showed up. Ughh, he cannot BELIEVE what kind of an idiot he can be. Maybe everyone IS right. He can cause nothing but mess. Turning his head so he doesn't have to look at this human and remind him of his fuck up, he decided to stare at the setting sun instead and pretend that everything's miraculous in the world. Like they used to be when he was younger. He sighed very loudly and heavily as he rest his head on his only free hand. This caught Tavros' attention.

 

Tavros raised his head up to look at the sudden noise in this otherwise quiet moment. He looked at Gamzee and thought that the other looked pretty... Sad. This filled the human with worry. Sure it was understandable that he couldn't be jumping from happiness, (no, he literally couldn't) but he started to wonder how he had gotten himself into this mess in the first place. Tavros knew that he can't just.. Blurt it out or whatever like, "Hey how did you get into a mess like this? Also, why are you sad??" He could try to be sneaky about this. Or something like that. He coughed to catch the clown's attention.

 

"Okay uh, I'm almost done with this, the net I mean. So I was just wondering what happened? Though I understand completely why you wouldn't want to talk to me, we are so, different after all. But uh.. How are you feeling?"

 

Surprised, Gamzee raised his head and turned to face the human. After swallowing nervously, he answered. “Ah, motherfuck… I don’t know. I guess I ain’t feeling all happy about this whole situation. My tail’s pretty much asleep by now and my face feels kinda hot and shit. Suppose it’s bleeding”, He raised his hand to brush one of the scars. Yep he had been correct. He was bleeding. “Fuck…”

 

“Would you mind if I take a look?” Tavros asked him and only received a shaking head as an answer.

 

He dropped the rock from his hands to take a better look at Gamzee’s face, placing his hand onto the other’s face and with his left hand he gently touched the fresh scars. When the Clown hissed from pain, Tavros quickly withdrew his hand.

 

“Yeah, I guess It’s going to scar. I could clean it for you, if you want me to?”

 

Gamzee looked around embarrassed before asking. “Would it help to up and make them less visible?”

 

“Well, it depends. Most likely yes though. So should I go get some uh, medical help?”

 

“Yeah if you don’t mind it that much. I don’t think my pop would approve if I came back lookin’ real motherfucking nasty”, The last bit he said in a lot more quiet tone. Tavros decided to shrug it off. Then he quickly cut the last rope that was keeping the merman’s  tail imprisoned.

 

“Alright. I’ll be back in a moment. Please, stay put!” And he ran off.

  


-n-

 

It wasn’t long before Gamzee’s right part of face was completely covered in bandages. Tavros had never done anything like this before, so his work looked a little… sloppy.

 

“Well I’m sorry, but you really have to wear this… thing! For a while! And you can’t get into the water before that”, Tavros said laughing at his new friend’s face.

 

“Ah Tav, the mess you made of my fucking head doesn’t really bother me. Even if I can’t see shit right now! But it’s just that I don’t know when I should be back home. Though I’d rather spend more time up here with you and all your weird human.. things,” Gamzee laughed back and wiggled his fingers in the air a bit.

 

They had moved away from the sharp rocks and were sitting side by side on the much softer sand and giggling about some stupid things. Their awkward chit chat from before had quickly changed into smiles and laughs and before they knew it, they were sharing stories from their own worlds and talking like they had known each other for years. The sun had almost completely set and it was getting chilly. But it wasn’t going to stop them.

 

"Oh right Gam, you said your dad wouldn't like it if you came back home covered in blood, or, something like that. Do you have any other members in your family?" Tavros suddenly asked him. He'd gotten curious and demanded to know more.

 

"Well I only have a little brother. He's a cute lil fucker, even if he doesn't talk that much. We get along just fine but me and pop don't.... Really get each other. Like, okay, I wouldn't say he's a bad father or any other shit like that cause they'd be full lies. It's just that I don't think he believes that I'm the kind of guy to be the motherfucking prince who has to get married to a princess sooner than I’d want to. And honestly, I don't think that either. So if you didn't notice these golden things that are holding tight on to my wrists, they are the mark of a royalty or something along the lines", Gamzee replied and showed his wrists to Tavros. "But to me they kinda feel like shackles", He continued and pulled his chest to his tail and just sat there in silence while staring at the open sea. Now Tavros was hoping that he hadn't just asked that. Biting his lip worriedly, he decided to try changing the subject.

 

"O-oh. Uh, I had no idea you had a kingdom down there. Up here we have few countries with, kings and queens. But here we have a president and democracy. Which is good even if I don't, always fully understand how it all works",

 

Tavros dared to take a look at Gamzee, who was still just looking sadly at the waves as they hit the shore. He hadn't really succeeded on his mission. Until he got an idea. "We have a lot of stuff that could easily seem cool to you, or to anyone else who hasn't seen them before. I hope that we can meet again later so I could give you a tour around here", This finally caught his attention.

 

"Whoa brother, how could you do that? I believe you've already noticed that I ain't got no legs. I can't really come any further than this", Gamzee said looking really interested in whatever Tavros had in mind. How the fuck could he get him into any of the human cities or to his house? Or more than 20 meters away from the shore. He guesses that rolling around would be an option. Or if Tavros carries him. He doubts that. Even if Tavros seems kinda strong, he's more than sure that he couldn't carry him more than couple of steps. He may have gotten a little bigger than what he was a few years ago. Although being carried sounds tempting.

 

"I think we still have my old wheelchair somewhere. I could push you in that! We might have to hide your clown tail so people wouldn't, freak out about it. Not everyone has seen a mermaid. Even if I have. Twice", he said with a proud shrug.

 

"Oh right, Aradia. But shit bro, it'd be so cool to see those pretty trees and, and flowers, and those motherfucking fluffy animals you up and mentioned!" Gamzee replied enthusiastically. He was visibly jumping on his spot. Which looked rather silly. It would seem that Tavros had finally succeeded on his mission to change the subject from problems with the family, to hope for something new and better. He didn’t like it when people were sad. No matter who they were.

 

“Whoa, slow down. How can you even jump that high?!” Tavros laughed.

 

“I don’t know man, I guess I have a really strong tail or some shit like that. I just got really fucking excited! This is my first time this close to humans. I’ve been to surface only a couple of times before and this is my very first motherfucking time sitting on any sand. I don’t like how dry I’m getting. I ain’t used to this! And my brain thought that today was gonna be one of the shittiest days of my life, but instead of all that nasty stuff, I got to hear so much more about the world top of our own's!" he said smiling and honestly, Tavros thought that his friend was going to burst at any given moment! His head.. Bandages were also starting to slip off, so he quickly reached out and tried to fix them.

 

"Okay yeah, I did a horrible job with these. But I'm glad I got to, help you. It was a miracle that I even showed up! I was going to head in just before I heard you", Tavros said while trying to tighten the ropes. But he was quickly distracted again as Gamzee suddenly went quiet. Oh god, did he say something bad again? Ughhhh, can't he do anything right? Maybe without upsetting anyone? He found himself once again chewing his lip and just as he was about to open his mouth, Gamzee replied.

 

"Yeah. It really was a true motherfucking miracle", he said in a hushed tone and smiled very faintly. "Thanks Tav", hee turned to look at Tavros. Now he was actually really looking at him. He noticed that his shining nose ring had a stripe on it. Noticed that his brown haircut looked very dirty yet nice and he kinda wanted to touch it. He noticed a small pimple on his dark skin. Noticed that he had slightly dry lips and very pretty hazel brown eyes that were sparkling like the water around them. Man, he could look at those forever.

 

Then he also noticed that his heart may have just skipped a beat. Dang he was in cute company.

 

"Gamby?"

 

Fuuuck.

 

"Gamzee?"

 

His brain suddenly stopped. The Clown tried to shake his head clear but it just ended up hurting him. The scars were apparently still very sensitive, despite Tavros' help.

 

"Wha?"

 

"It's my brother. He texted me and asked where I am. I didn't even notice it was so late, I'm going to be so tired for school tomorrow", sighing, Tavros tucked his phone back to his pocket and stood up. "Ah, I should probably take the bandages off or they're going to get, really wet-"

 

"No no, don't! I'll uh, figure something out. I think the scars ain't feelin well just yet", Gamzee blurted and pointed at his face.

 

"O..kay... Well uh, do you need any help getting back into the water?"

 

"Nah, I think I can wiggle my way in." It looked very difficult, but Tavros decided to let it be. Once in the water, his chest submerged, Gamzee turned once more back to Tavros. "So uh, will my eyes get to look at your face again?"

 

"Well that's what needs to happen if you want to see my house or, the city. So how about we meet uh- no wait we can't do it tomorrow I need to study. Uhhh... How about the, day after that? Next Saturday at noon?" he suggested. Gamzee shrugged and answered with a simple "Sure"

 

"Great! I'll see you then! I really have to hurry now, or Rufio's going to be upset", he said with an eye roll. "Bye Gam!" Tavros picked up his sandals from the ground, waved and took off. Gamzee stayed behind and waved back at him. He didn't feel like going back home to face everyone, to face Karkat's anger, even if he did have a good reason to be upset. (Gamzee did appreciate Karkat’s fussing however. It was nice to know someone cared) Trying not to think about it, he submerged and took the bandages off while swimming as slowly as possible. He held tight onto the bloody rags, not wanting to lose them.

  
  



	2. The plot begins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which I try to come up with a plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am, very sorry that this is late, and that rufioh, is the way he is
> 
>  
> 
> I have two and a half chapters left to read! It's a shame I left this au behind:/ Hopefully you enjoy!

After the long day, Tavros was more than ready for a shower. Oh God wouldn’t that feel good. His hands were slightly covered in blood and his hair was just a huge greasy mess. All his clothes were sweaty and some of them were even still wet. He wasn’t sure how, he had spent a long time in the dry air. Tavros decided to leave it be and tried to open their front door. But it was locked. Of course, his brother was being a pain in the ass again. Defeated, he rang the doorbell and waited for his brother to open the door. And it didn’t take long. The door opened very slowly and Tavros was welcomed home with a very smug grin. 

 

“So… Who were you sitting with by the beach? And why was he topless? Did it get intimate?” His brother, Rufio, asked him. 

 

“Oh my God. I literally  _ just _ , met him Rufio!” he growled at him.

 

“Wouldn’t necessarily stop me,” and his smile became somehow even smugger.

 

“Are mom and dad here?” Tavros decided that it was time to change the topic.

 

“They’re still with their friends. So you’re going to spend the rest of the night with me, your lovely big brother,” He answered and finally let Tavros come inside. But only to move in his way again. 

 

“Rufio, please I need to shower. I feel so sweaty,” Tavros pleaded his brother. 

 

“Not until you tell me who he was and why he was there with you-”

 

“OH MY GOD,”

 

“No no no, shoosh. I’d accept the fact that you weren’t getting gay with him. But just out of curiosity. You never talk to people you  _ don’t _ know! Which is why you spend most of the time alone. And I need to make sure my little brother Tav isn’t in any kind of trouble,” Rufio said and ruffled Tavros’ hair.

 

"Oh shut it. His name is Gamzee and he uh..." Fuck, he can't just tell him his new friend is a part clownfish and lives in the damn ocean. "He just... Moved, here?" Oh man he sucks at lying. 

 

"Hm, that's acceptable. Although I can clearly smell that you're full out lying to me. I trusted you Tav," Rufio said with an over-dramatic  head flip. Well at least he believes his new friend is a human. "And besides-" Rufio leaned closer and whispered in his ear. 

 

"I saw his tail," 

 

"Uhm-" Tavros didn't even have time to reply, for Rufio was already gone to make himself a snack in the kitchen. Tavros stood at the bottom of the staircase and just... Stared into nothingness. When he had met Aradia, his brother had been the only one to know. He would've told it to everyone if his brother hadn't told him to keep it as a secret. And it was probably for the best. God knows what could have happened to her if more people had known that the weird Nitram's kid was friends with a mythical creature that should not exist in this world. Nothing good would have, that's for sure. Thankfully his brother has always been really interested in fantasy and myths so he hung around with them often instead of telling about her to everyone he knew at school. Which was a lot of people. Like a  _ lot _ . 

   Tavros finally woke up from his stupor and decided to head to the shower. He was too tired for this. 

 

-n-

 

Gamzee was still pretty far away from the City of Planktonia but it wasn't the place he was heading. No, he really needed to find Karkat first. He could help him with what had happened this evening. He always does. Gamzee just really hoped that Karkat wouldn't notice the new decorations on his face. The Clown didn't know just how clearly they were able to spot. Karkat wouldn't pay any attention to them if Gamzee hid his head in a nasty human paper bag that sometimes floated around down there. Or if he wore the bandages that Tavros gave him. But then Karkat would ask "Hey, what's with the ugly human rags? Oh my God IS THAT FUCKING BLOOD GAMZEE WHAT DID YOU-" and then he would never hear the end of that lecture. But he knows that it's just Karkat's way of saying "I care about you and I want you to live a full happy life you dumbass clown," He knows because that's exactly what he once said. Now, where could his best friend be. Gamzee guessed that he wouldn't absolutely be nowhere near the City because it was "Full of idiots who care only about themselves and they have no common sense or whatsoever. No offense, even if it's true as my own two hands," Karkat was probably around his own home. That's where he usually was, and if he wasn't there Gamzee could always ask his dad, Mr. Vantas. Luckily, it wasn't that far. 

 

Karkat's place was in a smaller town called Shellville. Here's the deal. The Peixes family were the rulers of this empire. They lived in the center of Planktonia, just like many other royal families, like the Makaras and the Amporas. In other words, Planktonia was full of noble and rich people who were able to afford a fancy house like that. The Empire itself was basically the whole Atlantic ocean. Everyone who lived in there was under Her Imperious Condescension's command. People also knew her as the _“Sea Witch.”_ But those who _knew_ her were allowed to call her Condy. Or like his dad was allowed to, Meenah. Gamzee's dad, Kurloz snr, was the leader of their Royal army and Condy's childhood best friend. Which is why Gamzee, being the oldest son, was destined to marry the Heiress, Feferi. (Technically she should marry the Ampora's oldest, Eridan, being a higher class than Gamzee, but the Peixes have some sort of personal issues with them) Feferi too was also known as a sea witch, but she was not as threatening as her mother! But oh what a horrible situation he was in. It wasn't Feferi's fault, not at all, she was a nice person! The whole idea of marriage was just downright terrifying. Or... It depends of the person who'd be his lifetime companion... Gamzee stopped swimming to shake his head. That's not what he should be thinking about. Yet. 

 

"Fuck, heh, I'm already here," he laughed as he realized that he had been spacing out again for he could now see Karkat's house. The Vantas family lived far away from Planktonia and even from Shellville's downtown. Someone could easily mistake it as a huge stack of coral. Which.... It pretty much was. Karkat's family wasn't that rich. But it had enough room for three people. And even for Gamzee who sometimes spent nights in there when his own home felt too much. Even if he lived in a darn castle, he'd rather spend time with Karkat. However, now it seems that no one's home. 

Gamzee swam by their window and peered in. Huh, no one really is home. He wonders where they are-

 

"What the fuck are you doing by our window? Didn't you seriously see me?" Karkat's sudden voice startled him. "And where the  _ HELL  _ have you been?! The sun's set ages ago! Aren't you supposed to be home before that shit goes down?" And yes, this is who Gamzee could call his best friend. Karkat had pale skin, he had salmon red hair to go with his bright red tail. He was always wearing a crop top with a turtleneck. He had… issues with his gills and he’d rather not show them to others. But despite his snarky personality, he cared about Gamzee. 

 

"Karkat I need to jam with you," When Gamzee finally turned around, Karkat could see the scars. As he saw them, Karkat quickly swam closer with his gorgeous and fancy tail. He placed his hands on Gamzee's face and traced the scars. But they still hurt so it was hard not to make a face. 

 

"Whoa, Gamzee are you hurt? How did this happen?" 

 

"S what I wanna jam about. Can I stay with the motherfucker for the rest of this night?"

 

-n-

 

"Now that you've settled in in MY HOUSE like it's nobody's business, seriously Gamzee you can't just start living here, could you possibly tell me why you come back from your daily "I need to get out of here" -swims at fuck o'clock in the night?" Karkat complained as he sat next to Gamzee. Karkat's room may be small, but it's very cozy. He has one of the squishiest beds Gamzee has ever experienced. It's so nice to sleep in. "Stop jumping on my bed and talk to me.  You're going to crash it," 

 

Gamzee calmed down and prepared himself for the yelling. "Okay, best friend. Please don't get mad at myself cus I've got an explanation. I was at the surface-" 

 

"WHAT?!" but Gamzee papped him quiet. 

 

"I was attacked by those leg people, they got my tail in a nasty fishnet and I had to get to a shore to tear it away. Before that, I got my face decorated and I lost the pretty ring Fef gave me. But! I met Tavros who helped my ass free and..

And we talked a bunch about our worlds and our own motherfucking selves and uhm... I think I may… be crushing on him? A little?" Gamzee ended with a nervous smile, eyes going through Karkat's things rather than looking at how baffled he was. 

 

"Woah woah woah, hey now. I couldn't quite catch all the shit you just said in less than five seconds but let me try. You have a  _ crush  _ on a  _ human?!"  _ Karkat only received an apologetic smile. 

 

"Oh my fucking... You really are an idiot aren't you?" Karkat mumbled as he rested his head against his hand and sighed.  "Ugh. So, what are you gonna do now? Get married and live on an island in the middle of the ocean? Because, if you didn’t notice,  _ you’re entirely different species,”  _ he glared at Gamzee.

 

"Karkat, brother, he was so sweet. He helped me even when I could have easily bitten off his hand, or.. That's what he said, I would've never done a nasty thing like that. And like, he was really cute. He had pretty hazel eyes and a cute fluffy mohawk and, and- a nice soft dark skin and the way he spoke was...." he slid on his back and his head rested on the wall thus giving him a beautiful double chin. "..miraculous" 

 

"Wow I haven't heard you say the word 'miracle' since you were, what, nine?" 

 

"Ten actually," 

 

"Whatever. That really is a crush you're having there. But you can't do anything about it. You  _ shouldn't  _ do anything about it. You belong here and he belongs to whatever the fuck is up there. I, as a master of romance, know how hard it is to just forget all about the happenings in your heart but you have to try. Besides, humans are dangerous fuckers, don't you remember what happened to your mother?" 

 

"Please don't bring that up." 

 

"Sorry, but seriously, you're better off down here," Karkat finished. Gamzee knew he had a point. But he just... Couldn't do it. He really wanted to meet Tavros again,  he had promised so! He tightened his grip on the rags he was still holding and it didn’t go unnoticed by Karkat. 

 

"And why are you holding onto those things? What are they anyway?" 

 

"They're bandages Tav used to heal these fuckers," he pointed at his face. "But they got wet down here an’ got useless pretty fast." 

 

"Okay but that doesn't explain why you still have them."

 

Gamzee continued in a more quiet tone. "I don't wanna lose 'em cus they belong to him." 

 

Karkat sighed and rubbed his face. It was definitely too late for bullshit like this. "Look, let's just get some sleep and discuss more about this tomorrow. It's obvious that we've both had a rough day," he said and laid down on his bed and waited for Gamzee to join him. The Clown nodded and did so, pulling what a human could call a blanket over them. They fell asleep peacefully while holding onto each other and listening to each other's breathing. 

  
  
  
  
  


-n-

 

“Tavros!”

 

“Huh- what?” Tavros raised his head from the desk he had been sleeping on. Rubbing his eyes clear, he could see Nepeta’s worried face. Nepeta has been a good friend of his since the very beginning. They met somewhere in second grade and have been best buddies ever since! She had short and curly lime green hair and a long yet very adorable face. She was also the type who'd barely never wear makeup, so her freckles were always visible, (like looking at a night sky) and she preferred big and comfortable clothes. Today she was wearing a big green hoodie over her rainbow tank top, a pair of brown jeggings and a cat necklace. Boy, did she love cats. Tavros finally cleared his head enough to answer her.  “Ugh… Was I out for long?” 

 

“No, not really. Just a couple of minutes, but why are you so tired? You’re always paying attention and taking notes and stuff like that! Is something wrong?” she said and spotted something on Tavros’ chin. Giggling she continued. “And you have drooled a bit.”

 

Tavros wiped the drool off his face and mumbled an answer. “Nothing’s wrong. I just, stayed up really late last night,” At this point the teacher finally heard them and shushed them to be quiet. She was in the middle of talking about the movements of the lithospheric plates and what they could cause. Very interesting. Both Nepeta and Tavros then pretended to listen and take notes so they could continue their conversation in silence. 

 

“Well what happened?” Nepeta asked him after copying the world map on her notebook from the white board. 

 

“Uhh…. I’m not sure how to put this… but uh.. I kinda met someone who… doesn’t live in this city?” he replied and drew a sloppy clownfish on his notebook instead of doing what he should. 

 

“What do you mean ‘kind of’? Why are you being so sneaky about this. Or-!” she gasped really loudly and earned a scowl from the teacher. “Was it someone you might like? In a more lovey-dovey- way? Hehehee.”

 

“Nep please, I already went through a talk like this with Rufio. I met him yesterday! We are just friends-!”

 

“Seriously you two, if you don’t like to listen to my teaching, then you can leave this class. I don’t care,” The teacher had once again heard them and was more than ready to kick them out of her class. 

 

“We’ll be quiet Miss,” They answered almost in unison. She could get really scary when she was mad so they decided to continue their chat in lunch. Nepeta slid Tavros a piece of paper from her notebook that said in pretty green crayon “furriend for now!” and a tiny winking cat face. 

 

-n-

  
  


“Gamzee seriously, you at least have to visit them. If your piece of shit father isn’t worried then I’m sure little Kurloz  _ is _ . Or maybe even Feferi. Aren’t you supposed to like, meet her today?” 

 

“Yeah that was the motherfucking plan,” Gamzee sighed. He was floating right outside of Karkat’s house. “I’m already late so does it matter?” 

 

“Yes it does. You should try to treat your possible future wife like she deserves to be treated, and don’t even get started on how you don’t want to marry her and how you want to live with the human boy instead! There’s not much you can do about it! So shut your mouth and go meet your little brother,” Karkat finished and pointed at the direction he assumed Planktonia was in. He had a horrible sense of direction.

 

“Calm down brother, I was already going to. I’ll see ya,” He waved and swam to the other direction Karkat had pointed to. He kind of felt bad to make his brother worry. If he even was worried. But Karkat was right. He couldn’t really do anything about the things regarding his future with Feferi. Their parents had decided that it was one of the best ideas ever so their minds would be hard to change. He was getting desperate. He decided to discuss about it with Feferi once he got home since neither of them were really happy about it. But as he was late, Feferi probably waited already at their place. Gamzee decided to use a short cut. 

 

After 15 minutes or so, Gamzee could see the Makara family’s small and uninspiring castle, compared to what the Peixes had. Theirs were even bigger and fancier and all in all just more gorgeous. They had a lots more guards and servants than the Makaras. The Makaras had around twenty guards and a few dozens of servants. Now Gamzee saw that his own personal guard was going around the entrance and looking more nervous than ever. He must be worried about Gamzee. If the oldest was to be found hurt, Equius would surely lose his head. Or something even worse. And Gamzee’s first priority was to reassure Equius not to sweat about the scars and that he was definitely not going to “kick the bucket” any time soon. It didn’t take long for Equius to notice his master and he quickly dove to him. 

 

“Young Master! Where on earth have you been? Little Master has been worried to sickness.  Needless to say how worried I was. I am not the one to say this, but this type of behaviour is really reckless of you, sir.” It was hard to see it from his eyes, mostly because he was wearing very thick shades, but Gamzee could sense how tense Equius was. Or.. actually… He was always pretty tense. This wasn’t new. 

 

“Chill brother. And I’ve told you, just the name Gamzee’s fine. Don’t know ‘bout Kurloz since he can’t really talk for his own self but yeah. I just spend the night with my best friend is all,” Oh no, he really hoped Equius wouldn’t see his scars. “No uh, need to worry your head over this. Is Feferi here?”

 

“Miss Peixes arrived about thirty minutes ago. She has asked about you a couple of times. I’d suggest you go meet her now before she gets anxious,” Equius said and led the way inside to their courtyard. 

 

“Yeah suppose I’ll do that. You keep on doing what you usually do around here.” 

 

“I should and I will follow you so I can protect you from all possible dangers,” He said in a rather matter-of-fact tone. 

 

“Oh right. Well uh… what’s new?” The Clown thought that it was probably best to change the subject.

 

“Well your father is coming back today and he has said that he and our Empress have decided a date for your and Feferi’s wedding-”

 

“What?” Gamzee froze.

 

“Yes, he said that since the Heiress is turning seventeen next month, they’re going to celebrate it by marriage,” Equius continued on his way without Gamzee. He assumed he was following.

 

“They- he-” Gamzee was loss for words. And he honestly felt like crying. He really was going to spend the rest of his life here. And he’d have to leave Karkat behind. And Tavros. The society wouldn’t approve of someone like him hanging with people so  _ “low”  _  like Karkat and Tavros was a human so he just couldn’t sneak out to meet him all by himself. Gamzee rubbed his face and tried not to let all his stress show. “Fuck…” He needed to find Feferi.

 

“Language, if you wouldn’t-” Equius turned to look at Gamzee, but he was no longer there. He had dove off to search for Feferi and talk to her. As he entered their, what one could call, castle, he was immediately stopped by his little brother. Kurloz was hanging by one of the tables in the hallway and worryingly biting his lip. When he noticed Gamzee he stopped and turned angrily at him. He tapped his wrist to express that his big brother was very much late. Luckily their father wasn’t around. 

 

“I know ‘Loz but look, a lot of shit happened and I’d rather not open my mouth about it for now. Where’s Fef?” The older brother quickly hugged the younger and noticed that Kurloz looked shocked. Making a questioning sound, his brother drew his fingers over his face. What was with the scars? “Yeah, these kinda explain a lot. But I gotta talk to Fefsis first,” Gamzee gave him a nervous smile since he was under a lot of pressure at the moment. Kurloz nodded and signed that Feferi was in their lounge. 

 

Their lounge was definitely huge for some people but to them it was a regular sized living room. They had three large bookshelves, yes the merfolk indeed had books, mostly filled with knowledge and history. There was greenish lighting and large windows to show the viewer the many wonders of their “garden” In the middle of the room, there was a sitting area with fancy tables and different kinds of rock hard seats. Down in the ocean, it was usual for people to own these very high seats that had tree-like branches coming from the centre and each branch would have a seat or two. One could easily choose if they wanted to sit high. To a human these structures would remind them of a cat’s very expensive scratching post. Feferi was sitting on top of one of the tallest  _ posts _ and reading what would appear to be a book about… humans? Those books were really exaggerative, Gamzee could see it now.

 

“Feferi!” The sound of Gamzee made her rise her head from the other world. 

 

“Gamzee! Ahh it’s so good to finally see you!” Feferi was excited to see her friend again, she had been so worried that something might have happened! She almost sighed from relief but then she saw the scars on his soft face. She moved like a current to him “OH NO! What happened?! Are you okay?”

 

“Yeeeah that’s one thing I gotta be talking with ya.” 

 

“Huh?”

 

“You know how I go to my usual swim arounds? Cause yesterday I kinda messed up. I’ve already gone through this enough times so this is going to feel really dull but basically I almost got caught by humans, got my face scratched and I went to a beach to clear my head and free this motherfucking tail since it was stuck in a nasty trap. And that’s when the shit started. Not the bad shit anymore,” Gamzee was messing his hair and looking guilty about something that Feferi would soon learn to know. “I met a human and he was all friendly with me-”

Feferi gasped from surprise. “Ooh that’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to know more about them and you actually got to know someone?  I’m so jealous! I know those books have a lot of fish crap in them but what was he like? Was anything we know, true?” Her pink eyes were glistening like bubbles among her jewelry. Feferi had lot more diamonds and rings than Gamzee. She was much more colorful too. Her tail belonged to a Rainbow Parrot fish, it was pink with bright blue patterns and it had very tiny fins. She’s never wearing much clothing but it was usual underwater. It made breathing much easier. Feferi had dark skin and very long, thick and black hair with different kinds of pearls like Gamzee’s, but she had even more of them. Both of them shared the golden royal bracelets on their wrists. She had many necklaces and rings on her fingers and on her fins. The fins were much bigger than Gamzee’s. 

 

“The books we have aren’t all the way out of the truthful tracks but he didn’t want to harm me or anything. Tavros had like, very round teeth and not anything like I’ve got so he was scared I’d bite his entire arm off of it’s rightful place. We were both pretty motherfucking scared for our lives. But then he helped me free and to heal these new bitches up on my face and long story short we ended up talking a lot and now we’ve got a motherfucking problem. I’ve got a crush on him,” Gamzee sat up on a higher seat and rest his head in his arms. “The biggest problem is between you an’ me. Dad’s decided the date.” He sighed. He was feeling really bad right about now. 

 

“Oh right, mother already told me. Glub, this really is a big mess. I fish we could just tell them how we feel about this. Or how we feel about each other! You’re a great guy but like you know, I can’t imagine to spend the rest of this eternity with you. We don’t share any kind of romantic bonds at all. You’re like a brother to me for crying out loud!”  Feferi complained and joined Gamzee on a seat next to his. They both then proceeded to sit in silence for a while. Their young minds were feverishly searching for solutions. Feferi’s birthday is on the fifth of New Moon, aka in a little more than a month, which means that they only have a couple of weeks to figure out what they could do to prevent it.  Gamzee had no ideas in his mind. It was like there was a warm summer breeze whirling around his brain because of how empty it felt. Then the breeze started reminding him of the time he spent with Tavros. It felt like he was on that beach again. It was all warm and nice up there. That world would be a sweet place to spend an eternity in. And maybe with Tavros too. But he couldn’t do that! First of all, he didn’t have any of those legs, second of all how was he going to do that? Run away from home? Hm. That didn’t sound so bad. 

 

“Oh oh! I’ve got one!” The high pitched noise startled Gamzee and he turned to look at her. “What if I married Eridan instead?!” 

 

“Would that solve anything? You’d still gotta marry someone other,” He wasn’t really getting the hang of Feferi’s plan. 

 

“But it wouldn’t be you! You’d be free to do whatever you want. And even if Eridan is kind of a jerk sometimes, I  could still do it. He’s nice when he really wants to and he already has a crush on me,” She said it like it was something that everyone knows and not a secret shared by trust. Because that’s exactly what it was. 

 

But Gamzee still wasn’t entirely getting this plan. “But- like it still wouldn’t solve anything. I don’t want you to marry someone just so my lazy ass could enjoy all the freedom there is to be enjoyed. I want you too to be happy with whatever we come up with," Others' happiness meant much to him. Sometimes even too much. And Feferi knew she wasn't going to get away with this so she decided to scratch that idea.

 

Gamzee's mind drifted back to where it had been just a few minutes ago. He was back at beach with Tav. Ahh it would be nice to be sitting up there with his new friend and maybe with a nice cooling drink and probably... Maybe... He wondered if it was nice to be hugged by those strong looking arms. What if he  _ was _ strong? Oh boy. 

 

"Watchu thinking about?" Feferi laughed. She had been following Gamzee's funny expressions for a while and now that he had a doofus smile on his face, she decided to ask what was its cause. 

 

"What do you think legs feel like?" Why did humans have the  _ toes  _ at the end of them? Was walking hard? He could ask more about it from Tavros. 

 

"Actually, I guess I could share this little secret with you. I mean I've known you for a whole lot of time," Feferi shrugged her shoulders and she made an expression that made her look briefly just like Her Fishyness. She looked more than just schemy. And that's what peaked his interest. 

 

"What ya mean?"

 

She grinned. "What I mean, is that I know what it eels like. I've walked," 

 

Well that was unexpected. 

 

"Whoaaa what? How'd you do that?" His mouth was entirely open in wonder. Whoow she must have needed a some sort of a... Miracle to do that. 

 

"Well I am not called "The daughter of the Sea Witch" for nothing," she said proudly and continued with a laugh. "Basically I just poofed myself a pair of legs and went for a walk. It was only for a couple of minutes though. And I was in a deserted island so no one could have seen me. I've heard that humans wear much more clothing than we do so I suppose I didn't want to seem all weird. And now you're the only one who knows. Unless someone iS SPYING ON US. COUGH IF YOU ARE," After a small silence she continued. "Why are you asfin?" 

 

Gamzee was still listening if someone was indeed coughing but he couldn't quite hear it. After a while he answered. "I was just wondering what it would be feeling like. I'd love to spend more time with Tavbro but I can't cus I ain't got them. Even if I'm meeting him tomorrow. He said he'd show this motherfucker around! Not sure how exactly he planned on doing so, but suppose he's got all that shit figured out," Gamzee shrugged. 

 

"He sounded like a smart guy, I'm sure he has! Ah I wish I could join you up there. I don't believe that it's necessary for our worlds to be so... Separated. We could create a whole new community and live in harmony! Like you and Tavros!" Feferi hugged Gamzee just out of excitement. "I'm so happy for you. Even if this isn't the first and the last crush, I'm happy that you're finally finding new people in your life with positive feedback! Karkat is sometimes hard to be around but you know what I mean. You really needed it," She smiled reassuringly and Gamzee smiled back. 

 

"Thanks sis." 

  
  


-n-

  
  


“Ah, finally! I was starving!” Nepeta complained as she sat next to Tavros. They both had their trays more or less full of what someone could call "food" But it was acceptable, so they were fine with it. "I was starting to worry that she'd never stop! And it’s so hot in here, it should be illegal to do anything in this weather. How do you manage to live with those long tight jeans!?"

 

"Oh come on, her lessons aren't, that bad I think. I mean she can actually teach unlike, some other teachers," Tavros tried to defend her. Despite her personality, she really knew how to make students learn. Which is why she was one of Tavros' favorite teachers. “And besides, you know why I don’t like to wear shorts in public! My legs, or the lack of them, don’t look that pretty.” Nepeta shoved an entire potato into her mouth and tried to say something to her friend. It of course wasn't very successful so she tried to to swallow the food and try again. 

  
  


"Yeah, sorry. So now that we're here and we can talk as much we please! How 'bout we get back to that guy you met. Who were they? Were they pretty? Or or did they have like an eyepatch and scars all over their body, oh that would've been so cool!" The idea of a pirate got her really excited. 

 

"No, he wasn't a pirate! Even if he uh... Did come from.. Uh.. The sea..? Oh no, I really shouldn't talk about this," Tavros buried his face in his hands and stared at the dry meat he had in front of him. 

 

"What is it? I'm your best friend! You know you can trust me, right?" She was starting to get worried. What if Tavros was in trouble! Nepeta noticed that he was biting his lower lip and was mentally going through all the options he had right now. There wasn't many since he was a bad liar. 

 

"Okay..... Okay. Agh how do I even start. We met by the beach we live in and he uh, he was in a kind of trouble, I guess. He was bleeding and I helped him to recover and we talked a lot about... Stuff.. and that's pretty much it," Tavros dared to take a look at Nepeta and realized that she was not entirely buying it. After staring at each other in the eyes for a while, Tavros broke down. "Okay fine! I said that he's not around here because he lives in the dang ocean! Gamzee, he's a mermaid, a clownfish merman to be precise, and he lives in the ocean. L-like a fish! There, I said it! And now after ten years, the secret is out! The said fact that the mermaids exist-"

 

"Whoa whoa, hey Tavfurros calm down or everyone will hear you. Relax! A part of me always knew that they were real so you don't have to get all freaky about it. Breathe," Nepeta tried to calm him down and help him breathe by rubbing his back and exhaling and inhaling calmly.  Tavros relaxed enough to flop his head on the table and complain. 

 

"I really shouldn't have said that. He trusts me! And wants to meet me again-" This time Nepeta didn't have time to interrupt him because he had already shut his mouth. Soon she could hear muffled whining. 

 

"You're meeting him again! Gosh, that's so cute! Ahh it'd be so neat to meet a mermaid. What was uh.. The G man like? Did he have like a beautiful long hair and strong muscles and all kinds of weird jewelry like they have in fairytales?"

 

"Uh well first of, his name is Gamzee. And well, he had blond curly hair, he did have some kind of jewelry like a necklace and some pearls or, something in his hair. They were very colorful. But no, he wasn't visibly strong. He was actually a little chubby. And like I mentioned, he had a tail of a clownfish. He had gotten it stuck in a fishnet and his face was scratched when I first saw him. He had... Sharp teeth and very tiny fins below his ears," and he demonstrated what fins would look like by placing his hands on his jawline and wiggling his fingers. "He also had like, gills on his neck and on top of his rib cage," Finishing his talk, he could only laugh when he saw how amazed Nepeta was. Her eyes were sparkling and her mouth was slightly ajar. 

 

"Whoaaaa, he sounds awesome!"

 

Tavros smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess he is." 

 

The rest of the school day went by very slowly. Tavros tried his best to stay awake in classes. He had ended up snoring during history, luckily one of his classmates was kind enough to wake him up. And instead of taking notes he was staring into nothingness or doodling clownfish all over his notebooks. He was really looking forward to this saturday when they could meet again. Once he got home he tried to do his homework, had an actual conversation with his parents, who were (by his surprise) going to their friends’ summer cottage for a week next month, and ate some supper before going to bed by  ten. He was so tired that everything felt too much. Even brushing his teeth was an adventure! Before falling asleep he remembered that he had forgotten to search for his old wheelchair that he had to use when he was twelve. He really needed to find that if he’s going to show Gamzee around. Luckily his parents had to work and it seems that his brother couldn’t care less about his little brother’s non-human friends. They could spend the whole day together. Tavros thought that it was funny how comfortable he felt around Gamzee and how he wanted to hang with him. And how it was mutual.  He’s always been anxious when meeting new people. He wondered why Gamzee was so different.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> planktonia sounds so lame om g. This thing is old! don't look at me!


	3. The Two Worlds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tavros and Gamzee meet up again! And they decide to go out on a little adventure.

“Rufio!” 

 

“Yeah?” 

 

“Do you know where we, as in, mom and dad, put my old wheelchair?” Tavros was searching. It was only about an hour until noon and he still hadn’t found his wheelchair. If he really wanted to show Gamzee the wonders of this world, such as pollution, rude people, loud noises, you know, all the basics! He’d really have to find it and fast. Tavros didn’t want to disappoint his new friend! And now that his brother had finally come home, he decided to try if he knew anything about it. 

 

“That old thing? Isn’t it under mom and dad’s bed?” Tavros heard his reply coming from downstairs. Under their bed? But he had checked hadn’t he? He rushed to their parent’s bedroom and laid down on the dirty floor. Wow, someone should try cleaning. As long as it wasn’t him. There were a lot of boxes among the dust bunnies and apparently he hadn’t been looking very carefully since the wheelchair was indeed folded on top of all that mess. Huh. 

 

“Found it!” He dragged the chair out of there and tried to unfold it. It was tighter than he remembered. And also smaller. Uh oh, Tavros hoped that Gamzee can fit in it. It had been too big for him when he had used it, but he had been only twelve. So it’s no wonder it seems small now. He decided to try fitting his own ass in it and he succeeded. It felt a little nasty but it would have to do for now. Gosh, seeing it now again brought up some very old and not-so-nice memories. He couldn’t believe it had already been four years since the accident. During the first weeks of being crippled he’d been an emotional mess. Suddenly losing the usage of your legs didn’t do good for a growing teenager. Tavros had lost all the little confidence he had had, he had stopped paying attention to school and he had almost failed his classes, he had even stopped hanging out with his friends. It was a good thing that he had had Nepeta. She had stuck with him and helped him realize that what had happened had not been his fault, but entirely Vriska’s and that he should not just forgive her. Luckily Tavros hasn’t seen Vriska since it. She had moved to another city and so had Tavros. He had spent three years in that wheelchair and then he had gotten prosthetics. But because of them, he didn’t enjoy wearing shorts around people. They looked realistic but not quite enough for Tavros’ taste.  It wasn’t a problem around Gamzee however, he couldn’t tell if something was wrong with his legs. He was planning on wearing the shorts again for today. It was just as hot as yesterday.

 

Tavros woke up from his thoughts when he heard his phone ring on a table other side of the room. His old habits took control and instead of walking to get his phone, he wheeled across the room. It was Nepeta. 

 

"Moshi moshi." Nepeta was the only one who knew he was, what one could call, a weeaboo. Well, excluding his brother. The three of them often watched off-putting anime together. It was fun. 

 

"Tavros! Do you wanna come with me and Jade to see the new Pixar movie? I could pay for your tickets!” Nepeta asked eagerly. She had obviously forgotten what will happen today. 

 

"I'd love to come with you guys, but I'm, meeting with Gamzee today. Did you forgot?" 

 

"No no no, I was referring to both of you! I'm sure Gamzee would love that.” He could hear her and Jade's laughter. Were they trying to set up a date? And hold on, did Nepeta tell Jade?

 

"Oh, uhm. I don't know. I guess I can, a-ask him?" Tavros stuttered and ended up wondering if movies were a thing underwater. "And besides, Nepeta, did you tell Jade about him?" 

 

"Oh uh, it may have slipped. But I didn't tell anything.... Too personal! She just knows he's a guy you're going to meet today," Tavros could hear her winking her eye. But good, Jade thought Gamzee was a human. 

 

"Well it's good, that you didn't tell.  When is the movie?" More information wouldn't hurt. 

 

"The first act is in two hours and the second act is at 4pm. I hope you two have enough time to at least consider it! When's Gamzee coming anyways?" 

 

Hm. Tavros really hoped that he had understood what he had meant with "at noon" Do merfolk have the same concept of time? "I'm supposed to meet him in an hour. I just found my old wheelchair. For him to use, that is. Although I would have preferred it to remain unfound with all the, memories it held. But I'm fine now, really," He really was. Only the first few minutes had been moderately bad. 

 

"Aw I'm sorry to hear that! I wish I could hug that bad shit out of you right meow," Nepeta sounded very concerned. "But yeah, give me a call when you've got this figured out. See you!" 

 

"Bye," Tavros ended the call in a huff. He saw the time from his phone and realized it was probably time to go get Gamzee some clothes. He couldn't be topless in the public like that. As Tavros was about to rise from the chair, he began feeling quite emotional. He suddenly remembered the last time he had stood up from it. It had been the first time in years when he had got the prosthetics and was able to walk. He hadn't sat back down after that. The young man gripped the armrests and suddenly realized he was breathing heavily. He then slowly stood up like he had just learnt to walk for the first time in his life. Tavros stood there, in his parents' room, looking at this "legs" and laughed: it had been a while since the last time he'd felt bad about them. 

 

He sighed and dragged the wheelchair with him as he went back downstairs, he somehow managed to keep his balance and not to fall on his face with the damn chair poking at his legs, and to his own bedroom. Gamzee needs a shirt. Tavros rummaged his wardrobe in search for a shirt that would be big enough for him. Tavros found his old worn out Pokémon shirt with a creepy Pikachu. He uses it as a nightshirt since it’s too big. They had messed up the ordering so it’s size XL. This must fit him. Now, they needed to hide his clown parts- Okay wow that sounded too wrong and Tavros had to slap himself on the head out of embarrassment at his own thoughts. Goddammit. 

 

He suddenly noticed an old blue blanket that was lying on the wooden floor. He couldn't remember seeing it before. Huh, where did that even come from? Tavros picked it up from the ground and felt the soft fabric in his fingertips, thinking.

 

This will do. 

 

-n-

 

_ You should probably hurry the motherfuck up if you’re planning on leaving before pa gets here.  _

  
  


After all these years it was still fairly hard for Gamzee to read what his little brother was signing. He had to put all his concentration to it or else he wouldn’t understand a single sentence and even then he had to mouth every word after him. Kurloz Makara hasn’t spoken a word ever since their mother’s death. They were left to live with only their busy and kind of a jerk father who never has any time for his only sons. They get it, leading an entire army in battles to widen their already huge empire, takes a lot of time and commitment. The brothers just wish that things could be like they used to be, even for a tiny moment.  

 

“...Oh yeah, I know that much. ‘S just that I’d want to cover these fuckers on my face with something. I know he already saw them and all but if we’re really gonna visit some places up there I don’t want to look creepy as hell,” Gamzee said and rubbed the scars on his face as he stared at them via mirror. He hoped they would disappear soon but little did he know, they were going to stay there for the rest of his life. He noticed Kurloz smiling and signing again.

 

_ You? Creepy? Not likely brother. _

 

“...Hey, I can look pretty intimidating if I motherfucking want to! Tavros thought my teeth were pretty scary. That’s something right?” Gamzee asked him and turned around to see Kurloz shrug and scratch his head. Seeing Kurloz’s face covered in what one could call “waterproof human make up”, Gamzee remembered that wow, he  _ did _ have some of that weird body paint. Filling with enthusiasm, he asked. “Oh, oh! You have that paint of yours that you sometimes use to decorate your pale body. You think I could try that?” 

 

_ You do realize it’s pitch black?  _

 

Reading his hands, Gamzee’s smile disappeared in a matter of seconds. “...Fuck. Two black stripes running across my face like they belong there wouldn’t look great either. Suppose I gotta be just bearing with it,”  

 

As they were just about to leave the cleansing block of Gamzee’s room, Equius knocked on his door. How did they know it was Equius? The door was screaming for help, the guy didn’t know what a quiet knock was. Gamzee kicked his way towards the door and opened it.

 

“Sup bro,” Equius looked immediately uncomfortable, thanks to Gamzee’s relaxed behaviour around _ “peasants”  _ like him. Equius’ face slightly tinted red and he had to clear his throat to be able to make a sound.

 

“I am sorry to bother you both so unexpectedly, but your father is finally home and he wishes to see you, Gamzee, sir. He’s waiting in his room,” It looked rather comical to see both of the Makaras staring at Equius; Gamzee with his mouth open and Kurloz covering his with a hand. 

 

“Just… me..?” He needed to confirm that it was indeed just him who he wanted to see. Because that would be something new. 

 

“Yes, just you. I would appreciate if you listened more closely when people talk to you. It’s very important so that future misunderstandings wouldn’t take place,” Equius was starting to visibly sweat once he began realizing how he had just talked to his superiors so he had to add a “ _ if you wouldn’t mind”  _ to the end. Gamzee couldn’t care less about such things. Right now he was worried. 

 

Gamzee bit his lip and Kurloz drew his hands together in a praying motion but then played it off as a yawn and a stretch as both of the brothers had their eyes open wide in worry and maybe even fear. 

 

Gamzee did as his father wished him to do. He swam downstairs and prepared himself for whatever Kurloz senior had planned for him. He stopped in front of his father’s tall and threatening door. Gamzee hadn’t been to this room since he had been hiding in there in a game of hide and seek with his little brother when they had been small. And it’s been forever since Gamzee was small. Briefly looking at his nowadays jiggly arms, he decided to knock only with little hesitation. The following silence was tearing him apart. It didn’t last long luckily. 

 

“Come the motherfuck in already,” Came a deep and rarely heard voice from inside. Gamzee swallowed before opening the door. 

 

He swam inside the dark room and was quickly welcomed with his father’s cold and serious stare. “You uh.. you’ve got something for me?” He asked him and tried to distract himself from his judging eyes by looking around. There were still the same pieces of art resting on the wall and all the same furniture and everything was the same like he remembered. He had once hidden under that very desk his father was now sitting behind of. Even if it was smaller than he remembered, it was still really huge. Huge like Kurloz senior himself. The oldest Makara’s skin was just as pale as the others’ and like Kurloz junior, he too had pitch black hair that was long and pretty much everywhere. Gamzee was the only one with blond hair. (someone ended up getting more genes from the the mother’s side) The man was buff, like, very buff. His body was covered in scars, some of them fresh, and he too wore the same golden bracelets but no other jewelry. Only lots of rings on his ear and one even on his neck gills. He had a strong jaw and his lip was scarred. If he opened his mouth, you would notice that he’s missing a tooth from that same spot. He too, like the other Makaras’, had a clownfish tail but his wasn’t cute and friendly like his sons’. It too was scarred and a part of it was covered by a piece of clothing that looked a lot like a loincloth. The cloth was dark purple and it had some dark rainbow colored stripes. 

 

It was rumored that his enemies would rather run away than look him in the eyes. Gamzee was starting to understand where those rumors came from. His eyes were oppressive. 

 

“Sit your ass down. We’ve got shit to discuss,” The deep voice made Gamzee feel even smaller. He sat right across Kurloz and placed his hands to his lap. He couldn’t stop playing with one of his rings. 

 

“So. I assume you’ve already heard the motherfucking news about yours and Meenah’s girl’s weddings. It’s next month and blah blah blah. Nothing too important. You ain’t gotta worry your head off with all that, we have servants for that. Now I need to know if yall been treating Feferi all right and shit. If she’s going to be a part of this motherfucking family we might as well make her feel like she actually fucking belongs,” Kurloz continued and observed Gamzee. Huh, look at that. Kid got his first scars at some point. 

 

For the rest of their conversation, Gamzee was only listening to bits and pieces from here and there. He’d rather think about other stuff like, what Tavros was doing right now? Or if his hair would feel fluffy to touch. Or what if his father would concentrate on making his sons feel like  _ they _ belong for once. He answered to his questions occasionally and just generally tried to keep him satisfied. At one point he wondered if his father even noticed he was scarred. They had grown so much apart, it was horrible to just be in the same room with him. Eventually however, he was free to go. Gamzee quickly reassured Kurloz junior that he had in fact survived and was now going to see Tavros. The human. His little brother was surprisingly fine with the fact that his big brother was going to spend an entire day up in the surface with humans. Kurloz did wish him luck and hugged him before he left. It was a good thing that they had each other. 

  
  


-n-

 

Tavros was sitting cross-legged on the beach and building a sand castle from the wet sand around him. So far it had two tall towers and a flag made out of a tiny leaf. Tavros thought it looked rather pretty. He felt proud, because of the sandcastle and because he had managed to drag the wheelchair out of the house and now it was resting next to him. He realized that because sand was very soft, it would probably be very hard to use the chair here. Well, they would probably have to improvise. Once Gamzee would actually arrive. It was already past noon and Tavros was getting worried. Had he forgotten? Had he been lying? Or was he just stylishly late? There was too many options in his head. He decided to sit and wait for another half an hour to see what will happen. 

 

Ten minutes into building a third and a fourth tower, he heard splashing water. Well the water has been splashing for quite a long time due to the waves hitting onto the rocks, but now it made a different kind of splashing sound. He raised his head to see Gamzee rise from the ocean and at first he seemed like he was trying to catch his breath. Gamzee yelled his name and waved. Tavros was about to wave back but Gamzee had already submerged again. Soon he rose once again and now that he was closer, Tavros was positive that he was huffing a lot. Gamzee literally dragged himself to the shore and then  slumped down on his back and continued to breathe heavily. 

 

“Wow, looks like you were in a hurry,” Tavros smiled and watched his fishy friend huff and puff for his dear life. Gamzee swallowed before answering. 

 

“..hey...yeah… Pa had some shit to be sorted with me. Sorry it took me so motherfucking long to get up here,” He lifted himself up with his elbows. “Did you gotta wait for long?” 

 

“A little. But don't worry about it. I got to, uh, build this sandcastle,” Tavros pointed the sandcastle next to him.  “And besides, it's nice and sunny today! Are you ready to see my house, and the rest of the town possibly? Or, if you still want to, that is,” Better be sure about all this than to force him to do something he doesn't want to. 

 

“Of course I want to! I mean, wasn't that the point of all of this?” Gamzee asked worryingly. It.. Was, right? 

 

“Yea yea, I just.. I don’t want you to be here because  _ I _ want you to be here! I mean.. Y-yeah. Glad you're here,” The human forced himself to end his sentence before he says something he'd later regret. They both then sat in silence for a moment. The only sound came from the splashing waves and Gamzee's hard breathing but it eventually toned down. Tavros broke the silence by coughing. 

 

“So…. Do you want to go now? We- uh we need to get you some clothes so you wouldn’t, you know, stand out. Not that you can really stand but… Okay never mind,” Tavros stood up and turned the wheelchair around so it faced Gamzee. The young merman looked at the bizarre device in front of him. He had so many questions about it, but decided to keep them to himself. He did ask one thing;

 

“So I'll just… sit in that and… then what?”  Just now he realized, him sitting on the sand and Tavros towering over him, how tall his friend was. It felt.. Weird. Not being able to move upwards if he wanted to. Funny how up here, you have to keep down on the ground. Up? Down? 

 

“I suppose you sit in this and I'll push you around. Like this!” Tavros demonstrated by trying to move the chair around in the sand. It wasn't very successful. “Um this sand is too soft but it works a lot better on a solid ground. Hm..” He was thinking and biting his lower lip. After a while, he continued. “I think we have to get up there on the pavement. But how are  _ you _ going to get there?” 

 

Gamzee thought about it for a moment. He straightened his back and rubbed his jaw, almost like it was a magic lamp that holds all the answers. Rubbing his face did help him to think. Suddenly his eyes brightened and he changed his position. It reminded Tavros of a seal that was trying to move on dry land and when Gamzee began to drag himself forward with his arms, Tavros was positive that he was mimicking a seal. And it looked really silly so it was hard for Tavros not to laugh. Luckily, Gamzee didn’t care.

 

“Laugh all you want brother, but at least I got a solution for our little problem here,” Gamzee tried to smile but it looked a little crooked because he was concentrating a lot. Right there and then Tavros burst out laughing and he had to hold his stomach.

 

“Oh my god! Hahaha! You-” He had to stop to catch his breath. “You look exactly like an orange seal! I’m so sorry, for laughing!” Tavros gripped the handles of the wheelchair and followed Gamzee away from all the sand. He couldn’t stop snickering. Eventually they reached the pavement. 

 

“Wow that was…. Was harder than I motherfucking up and thought,” Gamzee huffed and sat on the cold asphalt. He didn't like the coldness. Suddenly it occurred to him that he was very much far away from the ocean and into the humans’ territory. He quickly turned around and checked his surroundings. Once he was certain there was only him and Tavros, he calmed down a notch. As Tavros pushed the wheelchair next to him, they both realized a problem. How was Gamzee going to get up on that thing? It was roughly up to his shoulders and there was no way he was going to just stand up. They both looked at the wheelchair and occasionally at each other too.  

 

“Um, I think we didn't think this through,”  Tavros rubbed his neck and tried to come up with a solution. Luckily, one thing came to his mind: “I think I have to, like uhmm.. Lift you up on it? Would you mind that?” He asked with a nervous smile on his lips. 

 

Gamzee remembered that evening on the beach and how he had thought about Tavros’ strong looking arms. He softly bit his lip and shook his head carefully. They both then stayed quiet for awhile. Soon enough, Tavros gathered his courage and decided to try lifting Gamzee in bridal style; he placed his other hand under Gamzee to support his tail and with the other, his left hand, he supported his back. He didn't notice it at first but when Gamzee yelped, he realized he was poking his gills with his fingers. Tavros quickly apologized and moved his hand slightly. 

 

“Okay, now I just gotta… gotta lift you to that chair. Uhm. Could you hang your arms around my neck so it'd be easier for me? I don't want you to, fall after all,” Tavros was crouched on the ground and he was already starting to feel it on his back. It's just one push and it's done.

 

“You be meaning like this?” Gamzee asked and did just as he was told. With that, they were chest to chest and Gamzee felt restless butterflies in his stomach. It was really hard for him to keep his face in its neutral position, that is to say his face was starting to flush in scarlet. _ Haha, was it always so hot in here?  _

 

“Yeah that's good. Now I can-” Tavros’ sentence was cut short when he pushed himself up with his legs and it earned a surprised yelp from Gamzee. Tavros managed to take one step closer to the wheelchair before he dropped his friend, as carefully as he could, onto the chair beneath him. 

“There!” The weight of Gamzee left him breathing heavily. Although Gamzee was a lot lighter than he had expected. 

 

Gamzee felt a little startled. This is when he realized that he weighs a whole lot more here than what he weighs under the water. You don't really feel it when someone lifts you underwater, heck even lil Kurloz is able to do it! Now when Tavros had done it, he too had felt part of the work Tavros had done. It was awesome. 

 

“Motherfuck Tavros! Your arms did look hella strong but I had no idea you'd be able to lift me all up like that!” he joyed. His eyes beamed with excitement and wonder, like he was seeing a whole new world. Which was basically what was happening at the moment. It caught Tavros off guard. 

 

“O-oh! I had no idea I looked strong or, anything really. I mean I knew I was kinda strong but I didn't know it was visible like that,” he gave out a nervous laugh before continuing. “I don't like to brag but I  _ can _ beat Rufio in an arm-wrestle. I guess spending so long in that chair left me with, a stronger upper body,” Tavros felt his muscles on his arm. They felt a little squishy but there was some strength left in them. Huh, he had never really thought about it. With a boost of confidence he flexed his muscles seriously with an equally serious face like he was a professional bodybuilder. It didn’t last long and he ended up giggling like a small child. 

 

If Gamzee had been feeling butterflies before, he wasn't sure what to call this one. It was like there was a zillion butterflies. All having a party and flying fiercely all over his body. And that's exactly the reason why he was feeling so hot and… red. Gamzee was sure he was just as red as Karkat's tail. And if he was, Tavros wasn't paying any attention to it. 

 

“Haha yeah, I- I don't know. So do you,  wanna see my house now?” Tavros turned to his friend who only nodded.

 

-n-

 

Luckily, Nitrams didn't live far away from the shore so there wasn't enough time for anyone to spot Gamzee and they were able to sneak in. Tavros had planned to get Gamzee the clothes and then leave asap. But his brother had had different plans. Rufio had encountered them in the hallway the moment Tavros had opened the door. But instead of annoying Tavros like he had a couple of nights later, he was acting rather decent about it. 

 

At first he had informed about how happy he was that the two of them had finally decided to come inside. (Then Tavros had gotten angry because, “wait, were you stalking us?”) Then he had casually introduced himself to Gamzee and asked him a couple of questions. 

 

Tavros had been worried that Gamzee might feel shy around other humans but he had been worrying for nothing! Gamzee had acted relaxed and friendly and answered to his questions with whole actual sentences instead of simple  _ yes, no.  _ Tavros soon found out that they get along just fine. Gamzee had even allowed him to touch his fins by request. (since Gamzee wasn't bothered by it, Tavros joined in the fin fiddling. They felt… weird,) Rufio had been all over them for 30 minutes or so but had left them alone once Tavros mentioned seeing the city in a disguise. Or.. Just Gamzee was going to wear a disguise but Rufio knew what he meant. Right now they were in Tavros’ room and Gamzee was trying to put on the shirt Tavros had chosen for him. He knew what clothes were and all but he just… hadn’t never worn any himself. Tavros was sitting on his bed, next to Gamzee.

 

“Do you… do you need help with that?” Tavros was trying to keep himself from laughing but it didn’t really matter since Gamzee had the shirt inside out and stuck on his head. Tavros heard mumbling that he took as a yes. He helped his friend free. 

 

“I don’t be really getting the reason why you all wear these fuckers. Why don’t ya just be all without any?” He knew why Karkat wore clothes and his father used them just for accessories. Some nobles wore fancy capes and shirts but not many. 

 

“I’m not sure. I guess it was originally just for warmth and safety and nowadays it’s like, a custom of sorts. It’s actually illegal in most places to be nude in public,” Tavros replied. He started wondering what the world would look like if no one wore anything ever. God, it would be awkward. Or would be, if that was a thing people were used to?

  
  


“Huh. Wait, nude? Whas that?” Gamzee was trying to turn the shirt around again and this time he managed to pull it on. Motherfuck, clothes felt so weird. The shirt was pressing on his gills but fortunately he didn’t need them to breathe right now.

 

Tavros had to process his question at first. “You don’t know what being nude is? I thought it was, like, something worldwide,” he looked at Gamzee’s confused expression before he realized he hadn’t answered to his question. “It’s uh… like, being without any clothes on. With your..  _ bits _ showing everywhere, you know?” As Gamzee’s expression went from confused to slightly disgusted, he realized he didn’t know. Now that Tavros thought about it, he didn’t know  how fish reproduced. Or.. mermaids…. Tavros beganturning red and decided to ask if the shirt was okay. 

 

“Oh uh. I suppose, if this is what shirt’s are all meant to be in the first place,” he picked on the shirt’s sleeves. He’d been trying to make sense of the yellow creature on the shirt earlier and now he concentrated on it again. Tavros noticed it.

 

“That’s Pikachu. It’s from this japanese cartoon, Pokèmon. It’s uh, mostly for kids but there are many older fans. I love those series, they always make me smile and, remind me of my childhood’s greatest moments. I have collected so many cards and I also have few plushies and figures! Ah, I can’t even remember the first time I watched that show, it’s been so long…” as he was daydreaming about all the times he had sung the theme song along with the show, he briefly noticed Gamzee’s face. “And… you probably have no idea what I’m talking about. Sorry…” 

 

“Hey it ain’t a bother brother. I’m ready to hear more about your world’s motherfucking comforts and joys. I bet there’s also some stuff in  _ my _ world that you’ve got no knowledge of,” Gamzee shrugged it off and grinned lazily at his friend. That reminded Tavros of his teeth. That led to realizing that Gamzee had other fishy parts too, not just the tail. What about the gills? Teeth? Those tiny fins under his ears?

 

“Aw heck, we have to figure out what to do with the gills on your neck. And your teeth. I mean, they are far too sharp to be human teeth,” Tavros bared his and Gamzee did the same. They stared at each other’s teeth in wonder. Tavros closed his mouth once he came up with something. “OH! I think you could wear a hoodie with, a large enough hood to cover up those gills and fins!” Tavros stood up and left the room in a rush. Just as Gamzee was about to play with the small figurine on Tavros’ nightstand, he came back. 

 

“Like this one! It's my rather old hoodie, it's loose and worn out, but I think it'll do the job of hiding them. Your gills, I mean. Do you want it?” The hoodie was dark red with black stripes from shoulders to wrists. Tavros handed him the clothing. He felt the fabric in his hands before he put it on. He still couldn't understand  _ why _ humans wore clothes, although they made him feel warm. And.. funny.

 

“Hehe. So, how’d ya think I all up and look? It feels motherfucking weird for sure,”  Gamzee chuckled and kept turning around in his place to see what he looked like. Tavros eyed his friend from his still slightly damp hair to his…. well not to his toes but to the end of his orange tail. Tavros thought about it for a moment, looked at his friend’s appearance and took the blanket he had discovered earlier and placed it to cover Gamzee’s tail. Now!

 

“If you don’t look at the tail and, ignore it completely, you look just like a human! That nice curly, blond hair and your body type is one of the usuals. Well, around here at least. The only thing that will possibly stand out is your bright purple eyes,”  _ That, and also the fact that you’re in a wheelchair, _ Tavros wanted to say but stopped himself. Gamzee doesn’t really need to know how some people treat disabled people.  _ How he was treated.  _ But for whatever reason, Gamzee seemed surprised by his answer. He was baffled.

 

“I do?” His mouth was left open, his sharp teeth glistening in the sunlight that came from the windows, and he stared at Tavros. “Do you... have like a reflective object of some sorts?” It took Tavros a moment to realize that he wanted a mirror. He nodded, helped Gamzee to wheel out of the room and in front of the giant mirror in the hallway. That is when it really hit Gamzee. 

 

He didn’t look like himself at all anymore. Even if he still wore the jewelry typical for merfolk, he didn’t look like one anymore. He was much more like a.. like a human. Like Tavros said, his fins weren’t visible and neither were his gills. With this blanket over him no one could tell if he had legs or not. And if he kept his mouth closed, no one could see his teeth. But now that they were going outside and see all this new stuff he had always wanted to see, there was no way he was going to keep his mouth shut. It wouldn’t matter if someone looked at him strangely and whispered things behind his back. Gamzee was going to see the human world and he sure as fuck was going to enjoy it.

 

“Fuck,” Gamzee stroked the large hoodie on him. Patted his own cheek. Kept looking at his own appearance as he sat in the wheelchair. Occasionally he glanced at Tavros who was smiling behind him.

 

Clothes can make miracles happen.  

 

Gamzee saw Tavros smirking behind him, all thanks to the mirror. “So, should we get going then? I got some money from my brother and, I also have some of my own savings with me. So I could, treat you an ice cream or two, maybe? I’m sure you’ve never tasted  _ anything _ like that!” Tavros pulled the said money out of his pocket and waved them in the air. With an excited “ _ hell yes, brother!”  _ they left the house.

 

-n-

 

They had visited numerous of places in Tavros’ city; at first they had been just looking around and trying to keep their secret hidden, but eventually they had been to a comic book store where Tavros had tried to explain Gamzee how to read them. (with only a little success) Then they had visited two different kind of Cafés where they had settled for hot chocolate and pastries (which Gamzee had absolutely loved) Tavros had shown Gamzee the Giant Garden their town’s only florist, Miss Maryam, has created with her friends’ help. And surprisingly, Tavros had been one of them. It’s free for everyone to see and visit and if people wish to, they may ask for a permission to start working in there. Needless to say, Gamzee had been left speechless after their visit.

Despite their long day of wandering around the huge city and visiting so many places, they hadn’t bumped into anyone Tavros knows. Well he doesn’t know many people but it was still surprising. The teens enjoyed their time together. It wasn’t until their visit to a bigger mall with a large variety of stores and merchandise, that they accidentally encountered Tavros’ friends, Nepeta and Jade. They were just coming from the movies. At first neither of them noticed. The teens had been too absorbed in the ice creams Tavros had bought for them just a minute ago. Gamzee especially, since he was trying to figure out how to eat it without hurting his teeth. 

 

“Tavros!” Nepeta’s voice startled Tavros enough to almost drop his chocolate chip ice cream. He turned around to see the girls running towards them. Suddenly he felt like he needed to protect his new friend. But he knew neither of them were actually a threat. But he just… Couldn’t explain it. Nepeta knew. Gamzee however didn’t even seem to care that people were running towards him. Almost like he didn’t know to be afraid. But then again, why would he feel afraid, he had spent the whole day with humans and everything’s been going according to plans. Tavros had to leave his sudden anxiety behind.  

 

“H-hi! Nepeta. And Jade. How- how’s it going?” Tavros quickly waved to them. Nepeta noticed his nervousness quickly.

 

“Relax Tavros. We’re just coming from the movies, you remember?” she laughed. “But I don’t think that’s important. Would you mind introducing your new friend?” Nepeta smirked to Jade’s direction and turned to wink at Tavros. Gosh, it got hot here didn’t it? Just as Tavros was about to clear his throat to answer, Gamzee opened his mouth, grinning open wide to the girls and absolutely oblivious to what’s going on.

 

“M’ name’s Gamzee. ‘S a motherfucking pleasure to meet ya all,” During his childhood he had been taught to properly introduce himself to new people, everything had to be perfect as the future prince and first impressions were always important. Luckily today, he could take it easier. 

 

Until he realized he was smiling a toothy grin and showing his sharp teeth to everyone.

 

He quickly placed a hand over his mouth and muttered a silent fuck. His cheeks were squished under his palm and he hastily looked each person in front of him into their eyes. During his time on surface, he hadn’t even accidentally showed his teeth to anyone but Tavros. Or...that’s what he hopes at least. He kinda screwed up now, didn’t he? According to the look on the black haired human’s face, he sure did.

 

Tavros was trying to figure how to lighten the mood. It looks like Jade already saw what was in Gamzee’s mouth and Nepeta seems even more excited than what she was just a second ago. He coughed to get the attention to himself. 

 

“So uh.. Yeah! He’s Gamzee and these are, my friends, Nepeta and Jade,” He moved behind Gamzee and tried to signal him that it was going to be okay. The guy seemed pretty freaked out too. Gamzee pulled his hand away and tried to pretend nothing had just happened. But he still had to bite his lower lip out of nervousness and it didn’t take long for him to taste blood. Nepeta waved enthusiastically and Jade lift her hand up and tried to smile. She had just witnessed some deep shit she hadn't really been prepared for. 

 

Tavros tried to distract them enough to forget what they saw. “Um.. What're you two up to?” 

 

The girls looked a little off with the sudden question, but understood they wanted to leave the subject behind.

 

“Oh! Just like Nepeta said, we're just coming from the theater upstairs. Inside Out was wonderful!” Jade laughed and let Nepeta continue. 

 

“And so sad! Tavros, I  _ bet _ you wouldn't be able to survive it without tears!” Nepeta cried and shook Tavros from his arms. “So horrible…” 

 

“Whoa Nep, don't spoil it! Tavros deserves to know once he sees the movie. And I wish to be present,” The Girls ended up giggling together. Gamzee was still trying to understand what this… “movie” was about. He had never heard anything about a “movie” Eventually he spaced out, thinking about “movies” and licking his melting ice cream.

 

“But how about you guys? I bet Gamzee has enjoyed the city so far, am I right?” Nepeta walked around and leaned against Tavros. Luckily Tavros had started to relax and was able to act more like himself again. He chuckled. 

 

“Y- Yeah! I mean I guess he has? I hope so anyway...” 

 

Gamzee was nibbling on the minty ice cream he had and occasionally turned away with an unsatisfied face. The cold treat was hurting his front teeth. He licked his teeth in order to warm them, however he eventually had to press his teeth on his sleeve. Gamzee turned to look up.

 

It took him awhile to realize that the others were looking at him and waiting for something.  

 

Had he zoned out?

 

“...Wha?”

 

“I asked if you’ve enjoyed your stay here.” Nepeta spoke up and stepped next to him. She was eyeing the blanket on him and just imagining what the tail under it looked like. 

 

“Ah hell yeah! Shit’s been so awesome you ain’t got any idea. I mean look at this little guy! It’s so cold it’s all up and freezing this motherfucker’s mouth!” Gamzee replied before taking another bite of the ice cream and instantly regretting it.

 

Jade laughed before asking: “You mean you’ve never tasted ice cream before?” He only shook his head. That’s when Tavros decided it was probably time to continue on their way. He strode behind the chair and began pushing Gamzee to another direction.

 

“Okay! Me and Gamzee have still some stuff to do and uhm… If you don’t mind we’ll just, go. Now. Hehe.. Bye girls! Say hello to John for me.” They then quickly fled from the awkward conversation. Gamzee turned in his seat to wave back to the girls who waved back, a little less enthusiastically. 

 

“Aw man, why did we have to leave so suddenly? The others were really cool.”

 

“I guess- I mean they are. They definitely are. But it’s just that I think they started, um, suspecting something. I guess ice cream is a thing everyone must’ve tasted at some point in their life, heh.” Tavros took them around the corner and soon they were out of the mall. The sun was still very much high in the sky and it looked like it wasn’t ready to go down any time soon. But Mother nature knew what’s best for all. It’d be up for only a moment now. “Besides, I’m pretty sure you’re going to meet them later again.” 

 

They walked in silence for a while. For some reason, not many people were outside. Everyone had almost like disappeared into the thin air. It was nice to be in quiet for once. The whole day had been filled with loud noises and excitement. Perhaps they could try relaxing a bit. And Tavros had the perfect place in his mind.

“Hey! You wanna see the place where I used to play when I was a kid?” 

 

_ Where I used to go when I felt sad and lonely. _

 

-n-

 

They had walked for quite a while. Gamzee had asked several questions about where they were going, what is that place he mentioned, until they reached old, worn out gates of a park. It was starting to get dark, the sun had set behind the hills and it could only be seen by the sea, just like on that evening these two had first met. The place before them seemed spooky and chilly now that sun was no longer shining on it.

 

“Whoa… What’s this place, bro?” Gamzee asked in wonder.

 

“It’s a very old park, a place where people used to go in to just hang out with their friends or, to play with all these devices you see out there. This hasn’t been used in years, not even a single person has stepped with their foot in here. Expect me I guess. I uh. I have often played in here. All by myself. That was actually one of the reasons I preferred this over the new park where everyone else always was. I enjoyed being with my… own thoughts.” He said with a small sigh as he gazed at the old gate. You couldn’t even make out any words from it anymore. It was covered in vines, dirt and rust. Tavros reached out to open it. With a loud noise of protestation, it creaked open. Gamzee had to wince from the sound but Tavros didn’t seem to care. He was used to it by now.

 

Tavros pushed Gamzee inside and let him look at all the benches, trees, swings and at the one and only birdbath. The park had a lot of free space with extremely long grass for people had decided to move all the good and still usable stuff to the other park. Tavros noticed that Gamzee was particularly looking at one of the good old swings. Heh, it must look funny if you’ve never seen one before. 

 

“Would you like to know what it is?”

 

Gamzee quickly turned to look at Tavros and bit his lip before nodding briefly. Tavros smiled at him, a plan already in his mind.

 

“Let me show you then.” He parked the wheelchair right before the swing and explained, “Okay Gamz. This is a swing. And it literally does what it’s name implies, it swings. Now so that you can get the full idea of what it does, I need to lift you again.” Tavros walked between Gamzee and the swing. Luckily for Gamzee, it was dark enough so Tavros couldn’t spot his bright red cheeks. 

 

“Uh y-yeah sure Tav. But I’m not really getting the hang of this y- ET!” Gamzee tried to ask his friend more information but Tavros was already lifting him up, the same way they had done earlier. The task was quick and painless however and soon Gamzee was sitting on another seat. (He would’ve loved to be held by Tavros far longer than needed, it was actually a bummer it ended so soon) Gamzee grasped the ropes that held the swing up on it’s rightful place and looked at the blanket that was lying on the grass and soon, at his tail that was roughly 50 centimeters in the air. 

 

It took him awhile to realize that was  _ floating _ in the  _ air.  _

 

“Whoa!” Gamzee tightened his grasp on the ropes and tried to look under him. Realizing that yes, he could still fall on the ground he pulled himself back up a little too fast. It made the swing  _ swing.  _ “WHOA-”

 

“Hehe, don’t do that if you don’t want to fall off or anything. You have to hold very tight on those ropes you’re holding. It will hurt a little if you fall off. Trust me, I’ve been there many times.” Tavros laughed and walked behind his friend. He placed his own hands right under Gamzee’s.

 

“Wh- what are you doing Tavbro?” Gamzee tried to turn around to look at him but he couldn’t see clearly. He felt a bit nervous but excited. He knew Tavros wouldn’t intentionally hurt him, he knew Tavros was someone to trust.

 

First Tavros started dragging Gamzee after him, higher and higher. Just as Gamzee was about to ask again, he whispered to his ear.

 

_ “Hold on tight.”  _ And he pushed.

 

“A-AHH-!”

 

The swing flew from side to another as Tavros kept pushing it more speed. Gamzee’s first reaction was fear, it felt so…  _ new _ and terrifying. He had spent his whole floating in the water and now he could feel gravity pulling on him and demanding him to fall. But he didn’t. His screams turned into laughter. Gamzee’s loud, honking laughter echoed through the empty and otherwise silent park, the only other sound was Tavros’ soft giggling. He knew his clown friend was going to love this and now he knew his plan had been perfect. Gamzee’s tail wasn’t entirely there where it should be when one was swinging, but it didn’t seem to bother his fun. Soon Tavros stopped and let his speed decrease. He joined Gamzee on the swing next to him and tried to teach him how to swing on your own. They spent an eternity sitting next to each other, swinging occasionally, laughing and talking. The boys bonded a lot in that moment. Even more so when they decided to move to lay on the cool grass. The stars were already shining in the sky like tiny diamonds  and crickets were chirping somewhere far away. It was silent and calm, it was only them, the sky and the almost broken street lamp that was trying it’s best to stay strong and light their night. They gazed at the beautiful sky in awe. It was something Gamzee hadn’t seen in a really  _ really  _ long time. He remembers being to the surface before at night but it's possibly been more than ten years. Lil Kurloz must have been somewhere around three. Gamzee brushed his unusually dry hair away from eyes. 

 

He wondered how Kurloz was doing.

 

“Hey Tav?” Tavros turned his head to look at Gamzee as he heard his name and waited for his friend to continue. It took a moment, it seemed that Gamzee was really thinking what to say next. 

“You have a brother, right? That motherfucker with candy red on his respectful head?” 

 

“Yeah?”

 

Gamzee was quiet for another while. He wasn’t quite sure why he even began asking. He could now just shrug it off and talk about something completely else or he could ask something unrelated to this. He didn’t have enough time to think this through however.

 

“Why do you ask Gamzee?” Tavros turned around to let his tummy lay on the grass and he leaned onto his arms.

 

“Oh uh… I was just thinking about my little bro Kurloz. He helped me to sneak out to get up here. He’s the best bro I could’ve ever thought about asking for”, Gamzee too turned around to lay on his stomach too. He ripped a handful of grass and just felt the moist plant in his fingertips. 

 

“What do you mean with,  _ asking for?”  _ Tavros asked. He had gotten used to Gamzee odd way of wording his sentences during the day but he still got confused by it. 

 

“‘M not so sure myself. He’s a great brother who’s always been there for me. I was roughly three sun-arounds old when he came around. Our mom died less than two years later, I ain’t got much memory of it but I’ve been told she was killed by a... uh… by a human”, Gamzee had to look away from his  _ human _ friend and turned his gaze to his fingernails instead. They were sharper than usual.

 

“After that, our pop was barely never around and without our servants and their motherfucking kindness for some damn kids like us, me and Kurloz would’ve probably died of hunger or by something just as stupid. They took care of us and I too  _ tried  _ to be a good big brother and keep Kurloz safe and healthy but I think it went more the other way around. Long story short: Kurloz became a bigger brother than I ever could’ve been and now I’m just wondering if it was right to just leave him down there like that. I mean I’ve been away less than the night has been but still. I’ve never been separated from him and suppose I was just wondering if what I up and did was right?” Gamzee finished and flopped his head against the cool ground. He’d tried not to think too much about it during the day but now the worry had caught up with him. Kurloz seemed okay with him going to the surface but Gamzee knew just how lonely it could easily get down there. The castle was huge and most of the servants who had grown them had either been fired or DIED because of their father. Thus most of the people just preferred to leave the highblooded brothers on their own.

 

Tavros was more than surprised by Gamzee’s sudden mood change. That’s not the kind of stuff to share with someone you’ve know for a few days. It made him feel a little flattered to know that Gamzee trusted him this much. But he still couldn't but to feel a little awkward, only Nepeta has been close enough to him to share such deep thoughts with, once with Jade present. He wasn’t sure what to say next. 

 

“Uh… I’m- I’m sorry to hear that you’re worried, for your brother's well-being. But I can assure you he’s going to be fine. I mean Rufio has often left me on my own when our parents have been working or just being, generally busy, and I’ve survived for this long. I’m sure your brother can make it too”, Tavros has always been pretty bad at reassuring others but he hoped he was at least going to the right direction. Well, Gamzee’s face wasn’t hiding in the grass anymore so Tavros took it as a good sign. He quickly reconsidered his following words, but thought that it would eventually be ok.

 

“I know what you mean with, having a close relationship. My brother helped me alot with, my confidence after the accident, when I had to use the wheelchair I mean. It felt pretty bad to be, different than the other kids of my age…”

 

“Different? Different how?” Gamzee couldn’t quite grasp it. Surely he didn’t know what was normal and what was not for humans but someone could have made the connection with the wheelchair and their own condition of not being able to walk. Gamzee didn’t realize it.

 

“Well… I’m not surprised you haven’t noticed, not even on the first day we met but-” Tavros moved to a sitting position to pull up the other pant leg. If there was someone other with them or if Gamzee was someone who could spot the difference, Tavros would definitely reconsider showing them. But he didn’t have to. 

 

Gamzee was confused. He didn’t know what he was looking at, that was a leg right? How was it any different?

 

“These uh… are not  _ my  _ legs. They’re prosthetics. Made up from plastic and steel or something. I don’t even remember anymore. I can’t feel much with these, they just keep me standing. I can’t even run anymore. It’s uhm. Been pretty horrible”, Tavros moved his ankle and looked at the toes that used to move much more when he was younger. Gosh, how did their night get so gloomy. 

 

Gamzee too moved to sit next to his friend, his tail curling before him. Tavros seemed so sad, he wanted to cheer him up.

 

“But Tavbro, you can walk! You may not have your own original legs but you’ve still got a pair. I’ve never been able to walk, I’ve never had any legs. Honestly, I’d be ready to trade this clumsy tail to a pair of those what you’ve got. Swimming gets really tiring, y’know?” Gamzee tried to make his friend feel better. But damn, he'd really be ready to give away almost anything just to get to know what walking feels like. 

 

Gamzee has always kept it as a secret, only shared it with himself, but he has always been interested in the human world. Well, ever since their mother’s passing. He'd been sad and angry with humans first, since his mother had been very dear to him. But he had began wondering more and more about what these so called humans were like. Gamzee had heard some things from Feferi and he had even read a few books about them. (or he had tried at least. Reading needs a lot of concentration) Soon his hatred towards them had turned into interest and he began believing that not all humans were bad. Two nights ago, he was proven right. 

 

The boys had been sitting in silence for a while, both lost in their own thoughts. Until suddenly, Tavros sighed: “I guess I understand your point. Always having to swim and, possibly feeling even trapped in the water. I too felt trapped in that chair and now I kind of regret it. Feeling so bad about it that is. Everything turned out fine in the end, didn't it?” Tavros laughed weakly and looked at the wheelchair, it's metal glimmering in the moonlight. “I just wish my confidence would have taken it, a lot better than it did.” 

 

Gamzee fought a quick battle with his inner self; was it okay if I did  _ it _ ? What if he thinks it's weird? But  _ it  _ does cheer Karkat up. Maybe Gamzee should try, what's the worst that could happen? But what if he starts hating -

 

He had to stop it there and just do it already. 

 

Gamzee quickly moved himself closer to Tavros and curled his arms around his friend. It was pretty hard with them sitting on the ground and Gamzee's tail being slightly in the way, but it still counted as a hug. At first Tavros was surprised and it felt like his heart made an extra beat. But it quickly slowed down again and he leaned to his friend's chest. He truly appreciated the gesture. 

 

The day's events finally began to affect their energy level and they started feeling sleepy. The darkness was softly  surrounding them, the only light being the sky for the street lamp had given up long long ago. Tavros breathed out, the breath fogging in the air, and looked up to see Gamzee's face. 

 

“It's getting late. I think we should, head back.” 

  
  


-n-

 

In the next few minutes, after the two left the park, it had slowly began to rain and soon it had turned into a storm. Gamzee had been enjoying the cold droplets on his cheeks but Tavros tried to get back to their house as soon as possible. He wasn't a big fan of cold. Once they had reached the Nitram residence, Tavros had quickly changed to dry and warm clothes. He also gave Gamzee a change but the clown wanted to stay bare chested for a while. His merman genetics kept him warm so he had wanted to cool down a little. 

 

After changing the clothes they had noticed that Rufio had already gone to bed and Tavros’ parents were nowhere to be seen. Oops, it was already 12pm. Luckily it was weekend. 

 

Gamzee realized that he probably should already be back home. But once he Tavros reminded that it was storming outside and swimming in the cold and merciless ocean would be a suicide trip. Thus he decided to stay the night. Before going to Tavros’ room they quickly decided to grab a midnight snack which was dry bread and strawberry yoghurt. Gamzee ended up loving the taste of strawberry. 

 

Tavros’ bed was king sized and with Gamzee's agreement they decided to just sleep in the same bed. They stayed up for a few hours, Tavros explaining him what all the stuff in his room was and what you could do with them. Explaining the television took a lot more time than the others did. Tavros went a little overboard and ended up talking about anime a little too enthusiastically. Needless to say, Gamzee was amazed. He didn't understand everything but he sure loved the way Tavros talked about it with nice sparkly eyes, smiles and giggles. Somewhere around 2am they had slowed down enough to shut out the lights and lay on the bed. Tavros had changed to his pajamas and Gamzee too accepted a shirt for the night. They could hear the raging storm outside and Gamzee began asking more about the weather. He knew many things but merfolk aren't allowed to go to the surface so he could never experience it himself. Yet up there he was, laying next to a human in their human house and enjoying his time with the other. 

 

Tavros told Gamzee about rain and heat waves as well as snow and rainbows and many other things Gamzee had never even heard about. Funny how two species who lived so near each other had very different views of the same things. Their worlds, separated by the waterline. How sad it was that one couldn't fully experience them both. 

 

Their chit-chat ended when Tavros yawned, “Oh wow…. I think we.. We should go to sleep. Today was a, rough day huh?” 

 

“Hah, yeah it really was motherfucking miraculous. Thanks for having me up here, Tav,” Gamzee laid on his stomach and Tavros on his back when Tavros decided to sit up again once more. 

 

“It's nothing really, Gamzee. But uh… I have to take the prosthetics off for the night, would you be bothered if I did  so?” Tavros asked and reached for his legs. 

 

“Nah, you just do the thing you should be doing,” Gamzee pulled himself to a sitting position and rested his back to the wall behind Tavros’ bed. He followed Tavros with his eyes as he turned his back to Gamzee. He saw Tavros’ hands fiddling with something but couldn't quite see what. Gamzee assumed it was the prot- eh. The other legs. Soon he heard a clank and another and then Tavros turned back, quickly hiding his  _ legs  _ under the sheets. 

 

“Are you okay with, sleeping like this?” 

 

Gamzee lifted his gaze from the bed sheets and replied, “Oh yeah, it's not a problem. Our sleeping habits are actually quite the motherfucking same as yours" 

 

"Ah that's good but um... I mean like, sleeping next to me. I still could go sleep on the floor," Tavros replied and pointed at the floor with his thumb. Gamzee leaned over and looked at the cold and hard looking floor. There was no way his friend was going to sleep on that.

 

"Nah, I think we can be like this. I've shared a bed many times before. It's nice to have someone close, even at nights," Or... Especially at nights... But Gamzee wasn't going to say that one out loud. 

 

"Heh, yeah I suppose that's true," Tavros paused to yawn and rubbed his eye, "Do you think you could go to sleep now?" Tavros was already making himself comfortable in the bed and just generally looking so tired, Gamzee didn't have the heart to say no. Even if he wasn't feeling that exhausted yet, he guessed.

 

"Sure bro," Gamzee too tried to make himself comfortable in the odd, dry sheets. His ass kept pulling the bottom sheet to the same way he was going. It wasn't probably tucked under the mattress anymore on his side. It was annoying but he did like what the fabric felt like. So soft and different to the ones under the surface. They really made you want to just curl up in their warmth and to slowly close your eyes while listening to almost nothing and falling to a deep sleep.

 

"Good night, Gamz," Tavros whispered.

 

"Mmmmh g' night... Tav...."

 

The only sound after that was Gamzee's soft snoring and the rain dropping against the bedroom window.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have two more chapters to read and edit! If I remember correctly, the fifth one just ends suddenly so I might either  
> A) Finish it  
> B) Add it to the fourth chapter and pretend it was always meant to be
> 
> let's see.


End file.
